For a Wi-Fi station to send data within a Wi-Fi network, the station must obtain a unique address, namely an IP address from a Wi-Fi access point. To keep the IP address and channel alive, the station must be validly connected to the network which requires the station's Wi-Fi module to be powered on. This inherently consumes more power than if the Wi-Fi module is turned off or is in another lower power mode.
Known solutions to this are to keep the Wi-Fi module on in a low-power state by extending the Wi-Fi Beacon dwell time or to take the device off the network (powering down the Wi-Fi module) and then restarting the network connection when needed.
The embodiments described below are not limited to implementations which solve any or all of the disadvantages of known systems.